Lake Cadillac is a popular fishing lake in Cadillac, Michigan. The lake totals more than 1,100 acres and is connected by a navigable canal to Lake Mitchell. About half of the lake is 15 feet deep or less, so it’s not a deep water lake, however, there are enough deeper holes out here to hold good numbers of quality fish. Anglers target largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, northern pike, walleye, crappie, bluegill and other sunfish.
The Water is Murky
The water is murky on Lake Cadillac and Lake Mitchell. For the shallow water bass anglers, this is great because you can go heavier with your tackle when fishing around the docks. This also allows bass anglers to go with a heavier 40 to 50 pound leader when you are using lures that northern pike love to eat, so you can avoid the dreaded bite-offs that are common when using lighter line with northern pike in the area.
Fish the Docks
Lake Cadillac has a good amount of boat docks, however, this lake has a lot of shallow water, so many of these docks will not be very productive after the bass spawn is over. Find the deeper docks and you’ll have better success fishing the docks. Anglers usually target largemouth bass, bluegill and crappie around the docks.
Fish the Drop-offs
If you take a look at the contour map of this lake, you will see that there are plenty of drop-offs and many irregular contour lines. There isn’t as much deep water in Lake Mitchell as there is on nearby Lake Cadillac, however, that makes these drop-offs even more important on Lake Mitchell. From summer through fall, good numbers of quality fish will be found on these drop-offs. A nice weed bed in deeper water will definitely be a good spot to start.
Fish the Main Basin
The deeper waters of the main basin will usually hold more walleye, smallmouth bass and quality pike than you are going to find up in the shallower water along the shorelines. Lake Cadillac has a good amount of deeper water and it is common to see anglers out here trolling for walleye and northern pike.
Fish the Weeds
There are plenty of weeds in Lake Cadillac. Fish the newly formed green weeds in the spring and start working farther out as water temperatures warm through the summer. You can catch a lot of bass, pike and panfish over submerged weeds and along the deeper weed edges.
